Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War

Adopted on 12 August 1949 by the Diplomatic Conference
for the Establishment of International Conventions for the Protection
of Victims of War, held in Geneva from 21 April to 12 August,
1949. Entry into force 21 October 1950

General Provisions

Article 1

The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect
and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.

Article 2

In addition to the provisions which shall be
implemented in peacetime, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of
declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more
of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by
one of them.

The Convention shall also apply to all cases of
partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even
if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.

Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be
a party to the present Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall
remain bound by it in their mutual relations. They shall furthermore be bound by
the Convention in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies
the provisions thereof.

Article 3

In the case of armed conflict not of an
international character occurring in the territory of one of the High
Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a
minimum, the following provisions:

1. Persons taking no active part in the
hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and
those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause,
shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction
founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other
similar criteria.

To this end, the following acts are and shall
remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the
above-mentioned persons:

(a) Violence to life and person, in particular
murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out
of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted
court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as
indispensable by civilized peoples.

2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and
cared for.

An impartial humanitarian body, such as the
International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties
to the conflict.

The Parties to the conflict should further
endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of
the other provisions of the present Convention.

The application of the preceding provisions shall
not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.

Article 4

Persons protected by the Convention are those who,
at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a
conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying
Power of which they are not nationals.

Nationals of a State which is not bound by the
Convention are not protected by it. Nationals of a neutral State who find
themselves in the territory of a belligerent State, and nationals of a
co-belligerent State, shall not be regarded as protected persons while the State
of which they are nationals has normal diplomatic representation in the State in
whose hands they are.

The provisions of Part II are, however, wider in
application, as defined in Article 13.

Persons protected by the Geneva Convention for the
Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the
Field of August 12, 1949, or by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of
the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of
August 12, 1949, or by the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of
Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, shall not be considered as protected
persons within the meaning of the present Convention.

Article 5

Where, in the territory of a Party to the
conflict, the latter is satisfied that an individual protected person is
definitely suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the
State, such individual person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and
privileges under the present Convention as would, if exercised in the favour of
such individual person, be prejudicial to the security of such State.

Where in occupied territory an individual
protected person is detained as a spy or saboteur, or as a person under definite
suspicion of activity hostile to the security of the Occupying Power, such
person shall, in those cases where absolute military security so requires, be
regarded as having forfeited rights of communication under the present
Convention.

In each case, such persons shall nevertheless be
treated with humanity, and in case of trial, shall not be deprived of the rights
of fair and regular trial prescribed by the present Convention. They shall also
be granted the full rights and privileges of a protected person under the
present Convention at the earliest date consistent with the security of the
State or Occupying Power, as the case may be.

Article 6

The present Convention shall apply from the outset
of any conflict or occupation mentioned in Article 2.

In the territory of Parties to the conflict, the
application of the present Convention shall cease on the general close of
military operations.

In the case of occupied territory, the application
of the present Convention shall cease one year after the general close of
military operations; however, the Occupying Power shall be bound, for the
duration of the occupation, to the extent that such Power exercises the
functions of government in such territory, by the provisions of the following
Articles of the present Convention: 1 to 12, 27, 29 to 34, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53,
59, 61 to 77, and 143.

Protected persons whose release, repatriation or
re-establishment may take place after such dates shall meanwhile continue to
benefit by the present Convention.

Article 7

In addition to the agreements expressly provided
for in Articles 11, 14, 15, 17, 36, 108, 109, 132, 133 and 149, the High
Contracting Parties may conclude other special agreements for all matters
concerning which they may deem it suitable to make separate provision. No
special agreement shall adversely affect the situation of protected persons, as
defined by the present Convention, nor restrict the rights which it confers upon
them.

Protected persons shall continue to have the
benefit of such agreements as long as the Convention is applicable to them,
except where express provisions to the contrary are contained in the aforesaid
or in subsequent agreements, or where more favourable measures have been taken
with regard to them by one or other of the Parties to the conflict.

Article 8

Protected persons may in no circumstances renounce
in part or in entirety the rights secured to them by the present Convention, and
by the special agreements referred to in the foregoing Article, if such there
be.

Article 9

The present Convention shall be applied with the
cooperation and under the scrutiny of the Protecting Powers whose duty it is to
safeguard the interests of the Parties to the conflict. For this purpose, the
Protecting Powers may appoint, apart from their diplomatic or consular staff,
delegates from amongst their own nationals or the nationals of other neutral
Powers. The said delegates shall be subject to the approval of the Power with
which they are to carry out their duties.

The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate to
the greatest extent possible the task of the representatives or delegates of the
Protecting Powers.

The representatives or delegates of the Protecting
Powers shall not in any case exceed their mission under the present Convention.
They shall, in particular, take account of the imperative necessities of
security of the State wherein they carry out their duties.

Article 10

The provisions of the present Convention
constitute no obstacle to the humanitarian activities which the International
Committee of the Red Cross or any other impartial humanitarian organization may,
subject to the consent of the Parties to the conflict concerned, undertake for
the protection of civilian persons and for their relief.

Article 11

The High Contracting Parties may at any time agree
to entrust to an organization which offers all guarantees of impartiality and
efficacy the duties incumbent on the Protecting Powers by virtue of the present
Convention.

When persons protected by the present Convention
do not benefit or cease to benefit, no matter for what reason, by the activities
of a Protecting Power or of an organization provided for in the first paragraph
above, the Detaining Power shall request a neutral State, or such an
organization, to undertake the functions performed under the present Convention
by a Protecting Power designated by the Parties to a conflict.

If protection cannot be arranged accordingly, the
Detaining Power shall request or shall accept, subject to the provisions of this
Article, the offer of the services of a humanitarian organization, such as the
International Committee of the Red Cross, to assume the humanitarian functions
performed by Protecting Powers under the present Convention.

Any neutral Power, or any organization invited by
the Power concerned or offering itself for these purposes, shall be required to
act with a sense of responsibility towards the Party to the conflict on which
persons protected by the present Convention depend, and shall be required to
furnish sufficient assurances that it is in a position to undertake the
appropriate functions and to discharge them impartially.

No derogation from the preceding provisions shall
be made by special agreements between Powers one of which is restricted, even
temporarily, in its freedom to negotiate with the other Power or its allies by
reason of military events, more particularly where the whole, or a substantial
part, of the territory of the said Power is occupied.

Whenever in the present Convention mention is made
of a Protecting Power, such mention applies to substitute organizations in the
sense of the present Article.

The provisions of this Article shall extend and be
adapted to cases of nationals of a neutral State who are in occupied territory
or who find themselves in the territory of a belligerent State with which the
State of which they are nationals has not normal diplomatic
representation.

Article 12

In cases where they deem it advisable in the
interest of protected persons, particularly in cases of disagreement between the
Parties to the conflict as to the application or interpretation of the
provisions of the present Convention, the Protecting Powers shall lend their
good offices with a view to settling the disagreement. For this purpose, each of
the Protecting Powers may, either at the invitation of one Party or on its own
initiative, propose to the Parties to the conflict a meeting of their
representatives, and in particular of the authorities responsible for protected
person, possibly on neutral territory suitably chosen. The Parties to the
conflict shall be bound to give effect to the proposals made to them for this
purpose. The Protecting Powers may, if necessary, propose for approval by the
Parties to the conflict, a person belonging to a neutral Power or delegated by
the International Committee of the Red Cross who shall be invited to take part
in such a meeting.